When is AV going to start charging?

[johnrhansen]

Just wondering... I Charged up twice today at the Tumwater, WA location... and picked up a free 25 KWH.. On my first charge while I was waiting, I struck up a conversation with the guy behind the counter who happened to be the owner of the shell station where the station is located... He was VERY upset. He said something like 10 times I HAD A CONTRACT!! He's bumming really hard because AV promised him a percentage of the revenue from the station in exchange for letting them build it there. Trouble is, they haven't started charging yet!! He said they keep telling him a software glitch they have is preventing them from charging just yet.. He wants money though. I pointed out that people like me come in and buy things... that kind of calmed him down.. I got to thinking though that he's probably not the only one who is saying "show me the money!" I'm guessing that AV is experiencing more and more pressure from station owners to begin charging, and it won't be long I'll be getting a nasty surprise like what happened at the Walgreen's chargers that used to be free.

 

[CMYK4Life]

I think they will start charing once you plug in


kekeke



On a serious note... good question. I often wonder when the gravy train will run dry. My biggest concern is that the charging stations stay there, are maintained, and dont get pulled out. I only charge in public when I have a longer trip which is 2-4 times a month. I would be willing to pay a $/kwh 10-40 times greater than I do at home.

 

[Randy]

I think they will start charing once you plug in


kekeke



On a serious note... good question. I often wonder when the gravy train will run dry. My biggest concern is that the charging stations stay there, are maintained, and dont get pulled out. I only charge in public when I have a longer trip which is 2-4 times a month. I would be willing to pay a $/kwh 10-40 times greater than I do at home.

Interesting...Since rates at lbwl are about 9 cents per kwh after you pay the $7.79 service charge (ignoring that for a moment), you are saying that you are willing to pay between 90 cents per kwh and $3.60 per kwh to charge in public?

If that is true, then you really are a supporter of public charging!!!

http://www.lbwl.com/uploadedFiles/MainSite/Content/Rates/2012_ElectricRate1.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[CMYK4Life]

I think they will start charing once you plug in


kekeke



On a serious note... good question. I often wonder when the gravy train will run dry. My biggest concern is that the charging stations stay there, are maintained, and dont get pulled out. I only charge in public when I have a longer trip which is 2-4 times a month. I would be willing to pay a $/kwh 10-40 times greater than I do at home.

Interesting...Since rates at lbwl are about 9 cents per kwh after you pay the $7.79 service charge (ignoring that for a moment), you are saying that you are willing to pay between 90 cents per kwh and $3.60 per kwh to charge in public?

If that is true, then you really are a supporter of public charging!!!

http://www.lbwl.com/uploadedFiles/MainSite/Content/Rates/2012_ElectricRate1.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Haha looks like I got ahead of myself there. I am a huge supporter of public charging... It has gotten me places I wouldnt have gone otherwise.

I guess I was a little too excited. I suppose $0.90/kwh for public charing would be my limit. I would not appriciate a substantial increase in my home rate.

When I charge in public I am usually at 15% SOC or less; I am at the end of a 2 hour, 80 mile, journey juicing up near my mothers house for 4 hours. My mother does not have a L2, therefore I would gladly pay the $ to not have to spend the night at her house.

I suppose if my daily commute depended on public charging I would feel differently.

Bottom line I dont think public charging MUST be free. I like free; but am willing to pay to keep it going and deter 'squatters' or ICE's.

 

[johnrhansen]

Here's how I figure it... I read that the normal charging plug is good for 10,000 connect/disconnect cycles... let's just say for conversation that the EVSE is good for that many charges as well... If a level 3 EVSE costs $10,000 that's a dollar for every charge. Figure a average 15 KWH is shoved into the car, at $0.10, so that's $1.50. So $3.50 is the cost, add the standard 40% markup, and that brings it to $5 per charge. Exactly what the fast blink chargers are charging.

 

[gigglehertz]

I thought I read at one point on the WCGH website that it would be free for three years (installed last year so 2 years from now). I went back to find the exact quote but now it says

"The price at a publicly-accessible charging station has yet to be established. Our charging station partners plan to offer both charging subscriptions for EV charging (similar to a cell phone plan), or drive up, pay-per-use via credit card."

 

[pthack]

Just wondering... I Charged up twice today at the Tumwater, WA location... and picked up a free 25 KWH.. On my first charge while I was waiting, I struck up a conversation with the guy behind the counter who happened to be the owner of the shell station where the station is located... He was VERY upset. He said something like 10 times I HAD A CONTRACT!! He's bumming really hard because AV promised him a percentage of the revenue from the station in exchange for letting them build it there. Trouble is, they haven't started charging yet!! He said they keep telling him a software glitch they have is preventing them from charging just yet.. He wants money though. I pointed out that people like me come in and buy things... that kind of calmed him down.. I got to thinking though that he's probably not the only one who is saying "show me the money!" I'm guessing that AV is experiencing more and more pressure from station owners to begin charging, and it won't be long I'll be getting a nasty surprise like what happened at the Walgreen's chargers that used to be free.

I had thought that the WCGH was subsidizing those installs for SOME period of time...I couldn't find any stated timeframe either...

I 'charge' up there on pretty much every weekday. It's my 'main' charge point on the way home from work, and the reason I didn't install an L2 EVSE at home (WHY would I pay $600 + $0.10/KWh when I can get 10-12KWh for free daily)....sure it costs me 20-30 minutes of my time (and a chance to go through my mail on my smartphone), and the $1.50 to go in and buy something from the Shell station attached, but it's worth it...it saved me the $600 (amortized over the 24k lease, that's another 2.5 cents/mile...)...the trickle charge I get at home to top off gets me to 100% easily....so far (623 miles), I've used 61KWh of electricity at home, and a whole lot more at the EV DCQC, which gives me about a $0.01/mile 'fule?' cost...

So if and when they start charging at the Tumwater WCGH site, I'll have to re-assess the decision...

Hopefully by then, J1772 plugs and cables will be reasonable, and I'll build a EMW Juicebox...

 

[davewill]

... He was VERY upset. He said something like 10 times I HAD A CONTRACT!! He's bumming really hard because AV promised him a percentage of the revenue from the station in exchange for letting them build it there. Trouble is, they haven't started charging yet!! He said they keep telling him a software glitch they have is preventing them from charging just yet.. He wants money though. ...

It seems to me that a software glitch should be AVs problem, not the site owner. I can see why he's annoyed. I'd be demanding my income, too.

Good job talking the guy off the cliff, though.

 

[pthack]

... He was VERY upset. He said something like 10 times I HAD A CONTRACT!! He's bumming really hard because AV promised him a percentage of the revenue from the station in exchange for letting them build it there. Trouble is, they haven't started charging yet!! He said they keep telling him a software glitch they have is preventing them from charging just yet.. He wants money though. ...

It seems to me that a software glitch should be AVs problem, not the site owner. I can see why he's annoyed. I'd be demanding my income, too.

Good job talking the guy off the cliff, though.

I go in there every day (while charging), and at least buy SOMETHING (yesterday was $4.23 (including tax) for a bag of Funyuns that you can buy for $3.29 elsewhere), while mentioning I appreciate that they have the fast charger available. Sure it costs me, almost as much as charging at home (based on the difference in price), but at least it's supporting the local guys that we need to get buy-in from to make EVs really work.....

 

[Turnover]

I talked to the Tumwater station owner last Sunday and had the same conversation.

The previous week I had some conversations with folks in Arlington, OR about getting a charger there. They are working with EV4LLC (http://www.ev4oregon.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false with some grant money to have a charging station installed. When I checked out the EV4 web site I found it offered two contract options on the bottom of the home page. (Reading the contracts over, I have some question about whether either is workable given the cost of the equipment, maintenance, and other issues.) I suggested that Arlington businesses might want to use some of their present resources to add 120V all weather outlets and 240 V chargers. There is the Village Inn motel / restaurant that might use this approach. I also learned that there is a Vernon Gray in Condon that has a charger available.

I am sorry if I have gone in several directions with this post. My thought is the electric highway is still a work in progress with some frayed edges and possible unraveling. Maybe the best bet is to locate quick chargers at the state owned rest stops and call that good. If folks want charging at businesses like hotels and restaurants, maybe 120V/240V outlets/units are the best use of their finances. (I talked to Best Western in LaGrand, OR and they already have all weather outlets used by folks to keep their cars warm in the winter.) Charging overnight at a motel is very doable when the QC is down. I did this in Newport and it worked fine.